What Matters Most
by That FanFic Writer Girl
Summary: At first glance, Russell and Zoe don't work well together. They constantly irritate one another, and their egotistical natures often bump into one another. But despite the odds, the hedgehog and dog found themselves becoming more than friends. The only problem? No one- not the pets, not even Blythe- knows about their relationship.


**Hello everyone! So... this is my first story on , and I'm going to be honest- when I first uploaded this story just about 2 days ago, I didn't know how to really edit in an author's note. But now I do, and I have to say... *FACEPALM*, *FACEPALM*, *FACEPALM*. But _moving on_, I really love the show Littlest Pet Shop, and as such decided to make this story dedicated to one of my all time favorite OTPs: Russell and Zoe. The are SOOOO cute together and I think they have a good dynamic together in the actual show. So FerguTrent fans, have fun fangirling to this little oneshot! I hope you like it, and feel free to leave constructive criticism. :)**

Russell studied the day camp, taking note of its organized and cleanly state-thanks to him, that is. With a clipboard in his hand as usual, he narrowed down his eyes upon the last written entry on his list.

"Double check over the day camp- check." He stated to himself, using a pencil to cross it off and insert a check mark right next to it.

"Whew…" Feeling relieved with himself, he gave out an exasperated sigh and fell over on top of the cushion below him. Russell had to admit to himself- while he enjoyed taking on the role of the pets' task manager as well as their personal organizer, it tired him out all the same. Did he have to do it? No, not exactly; but the job was always worth keeping if it meant that the Littlest Pet Shop maintained a sense of organization and tidiness.

"Now that this is done," the hedgehog stretched out his arms and gave out a loud yawn before picking up a nicely sized book near the side of his cushion. "Time for some _me_ time."

Turning the cover over to the page titled in big bold letters "**Chapter One"**, Russell began to read.

"_Psst! _Russell!"

…_Of course. _

"Yes?" Russell asked in a monotone voice, not even bothering to look in the direction of the purple dog coming towards him.

"Russell, darling, I hate to interrupt you…"

_You just did_… Russell thought to himself, being careful not to say it aloud.

"But I really, _really_ need to talk with you. Please?" She looked right at him with big, pleading eyes- the kind of look she always gave when she wanted something.

Russell furrowed his brows and rubbed his temple, finding it quite hard to refuse Zoe's plea and not wanting to be mean if he did so. Reluctantly, he gave in.

"…OK. Fine. What about, Zoe?

"Um, actually, I would prefer that we indulge in this matter privately."

Russell raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Why?"

"Darling, I would be more open to talk if we were to do things this way…"

He decided to go along with it, growing more concerned than annoyed.

"Alright. Fire hydrant sound OK?"

"Sounds fine to me."

The two made their way to the secluded fire hydrant in the corner just around the back window. It was the go-to area for whenever either one of the pets-or humans- wanted to be alone. As was the case with Blythe, Mrs. Twombly, and quite often Penny Ling.

Now, it was just Zoe and Russell at the moment.

"Care to explain now, Zoe?" Russell asked, concern mixed with just a touch of annoyance.

"Well…" Zoe bit her lip, her paw rubbing against her side sheepishly. Russell caught on to her body language all too well.

"Don't tell me…"

"Yeah… apologies, darling."

Russell looked as if he was ready to strangle the spaniel right then and there as his eyes narrowed and worry disappear. "_Ugh… _I should have known it was coming! This is like, what, the second time? Really, Zoe?"

"I'm sorry, Russell! Really, I am!" Her sheepishness suddenly melted away, irritation and guilt seeping its way through her disheartened tone. "But how else can I see you without any interference from the others?"

"Um, how about something along the lines of being honest with me?" Russell replied sarcastically. He wasn't buying into her pleas, not this time. "This is getting on my nerves, Zoe…"

"And you don't think I thought about it? Trust me, Russell- I don't take _pleasure_ in deceiving you!" she spat, perhaps louder than she'd intended.

Russell quieted; his temper cooling down, and aggravation subsiding in favor of a melancholic attitude. He still felt a bit of annoyance with her actions, but he understood her intentions, truly he did. His paws met his face as well as a sigh.

"I'm getting tired of this, Zoe…"

Zoe felt her eyes begin to water. "You're… tired? Of this?" she spoke with a light waver to her voice, threatening tears forming at the brim.

"N-No… Zoe, I didn't mean…" Somehow one paw found its way to hers. "this…"

She gave out a sigh. "Then, what?"

Russell looked down, not daring to meet her eyes. "…Feeling the need to keep our relationship a secret."

They were both silent after the words were spoken.

Over some time, the hedgehog and dog had grown closer and closer to one another. They had always been friends with each other from the time they were young pups, but that was that. Merely friendship. Nothing more. Not until now, anyways. Neither pet was really sure how it all started; only that it did.

"…I'm still nervous about it." Zoe spoke up finally.

"Zoe, are you…" Russell paused once again on his words- only this time because the sentence was hard to get out; paw letting go of hers. "…are you ashamed of me?"

As soon as he said it, Zoe went pale and her eyes widened. "_No_, _no_, no, no, darling!" She immediately turned to face him, the desperate need to quell his doubt for her taking control of her actions and words. "No, I'm not _ashamed_, Russell. It's just as I told you- I'm nervous! That's all."

Russell raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

It hurt to hear that. Such a simple word, and what power it had over her when she heard the skepticism in his voice. "Russell… please believe me. If the world were a perfect place, I wouldn't have anything holding me back from telling everyone about us. But it's not. Unfortunately, you never know what can set someone off. You never know what they can and can't accept…"

Russell quieted down as she continued on.

"Humans are just _now _accepting the fact that boys can love boys, and that girls can love girls. And just a few centuries ago, they learned that love isn't limited to the color of skin."

She took one of his paws into her own.

"How do you think they'd respond to a hedgehog and a dog?" She sighed and put her head down. "_Ugh… _all this 'forbidden love' talk is exhausting…"

Russell did a slight scoff. "…Is this how Romeo and Juliet felt?"

"Wait, you actually know who those two are?" Zoe smirked. "And here I thought that you were ignorant to all things 'mushy' and 'lovey-dovey'."

"Zoe, if I was, we wouldn't even be together right now."

"…Well, good point."

The pair chuckled before saying nothing and letting the silence speak for itself again.

"You know," Russell was the one to speak up first this time. "We're not confessing our love to the world. We're simply coming out to our friends about our relationship."

Zoe winced. "I know; I know… it's all pretty stupid. Am I overthinking this?"

"_Eh_," Russell shrugged, "Maybe a little. But it's not stupid."

The dog's ears perked up. "No?"

"No, it'd be normal to feel that way, Zoe. The others are used to you fawning over every male dog with a pretty face-"

She glared towards him. "I _can _give you a good smack."

"-let me finish. The others are used to that._ I_ was even used to that. But you know what?"

"What?" She rolled her eyes.

"That changed. Now _I'm_ with _you_\- the infamous 'female Casanova'." Russell made sure to really enunciate on that last part, making Zoe laugh a little harder than anticipated.

"Really? Is _that_ what you guys call me?"

"No, just me."

"I should have known…"

"Anyways," he resumed, "maybe the others _will _be surprised, but they won't be mad. Nor will they love us any less." Russell turned to face her, his eyes focusing on hers and a smile etched on his face. "They'll be happy for us, Zoe. I know they will."

Zoe let a small smile of her own form as well. "Really?"

"Absolutely." He replied, assuring her of his confidence and planting a kiss on her cheek. "Now please stop worrying about it."

The dog felt her cheeks grow warm. Russell was so calm about all of this that she couldn't help but feel the same way as well. While it was true that she was still nervous, there was something about the way he so nonchalantly kissed her that melted all of those worries away. And he was right- the world _didn'_t have to know about the two of them- just their friends and each other. As long as the two of them were happy together, none of whatever criticism they would receive really mattered at all.

Zoe playfully groaned. "Why must you almost always be right?"

The hedgehog chuckled, his eyes half lidded and a cocky grin on his face. "It just comes naturally~." Russell scooched up closer and put one arm around her.

"Of _course_ it does..."

"I can't help it if my intellect intimidates you, Zoe."

"Stars above, you really _do _have an ego, you know that?"

"Not as big as yours."

The two continued on, banter being teasingly exchanged by the both of them until Zoe changed the conversation.

"So… when should we tell them?"

"Hm?"

"The others. When should we tell them about us?"

Russell pondered for a moment, his paw pressed slightly under his chin and his eyes focused on the plush floor of the fire hydrant.

"Well, not today. I know that much. So… how about we… _think_ on it some more before then? We have more than enough time, anyway."

Zoe nodded in agreement. "Sounds just fine to me, darling."

"Great!" Russell exclaimed, clapping together his paws in unison, "It's settled then. That gives us plenty of time to prepare and plan the whole thing out word by word. The last thing we want it to be is awkward and clumsily spoken."

"Aren't you overthinking this? We're coming out about our relationship, not preparing a speech."

He stopped himself short. Perhaps he was… Being the perfectionist that he was, he had a tendency to do so. "_Eh_… Sorry. Can't help it…"

Zoe laughed under her breath and embraced her boyfriend once again, kissing him on the cheek as he did her. "All is alright, Russell dear."

Russell smiled up at Zoe, happy and content in her presence. A long time ago, he said he would never fall in love. Romance was gross, cheesy, meaningless to him. A cliché that often never lasted in real life but only on the screen of a television. Lying in the arms of ones' lover sounded like one of the most boring things that one could ever do with their life. It meant nothing to him. If somebody once told him back then that he would be dating _Zoe_ of all pets, someone whom often annoyed him with their selfishness and incessant vanity, he would have called them crazy and laughed. Loudly. Maybe he would have even _gagged_ at the thought.

However, that was no longer just a _thought_. It was real life. He somehow became attracted to the purple diva and wound up calling her his "girlfriend". What was it about Zoe that made him have eyes for her in the first place, he hadn't a clue. He could have guessed, but he had a feeling that none of them would truly be right.

And honestly, lying beside her, his own "female Casanova", not searching for an answer seemed to be the right one.


End file.
